Eulogy for a Shinobi
by Starfire201
Summary: It is how we are remembered in the end that truly matters. 1. Hatake Kakashi-AU 2. Jiraiya. 3. Namikaze Minato.
1. Hatake Kakashi Facets

**AN: **I wrote this after reading chapters 423 and 424 of the manga. Anyone who has not read chapter 424 is advised to read no further.

**AN2: **I've once more had to change this author's note. While chapter 431 did state that Kakashi had died, he was resurrected in chapter 449 following the battle for Kohonagakure. Since canon did have him die briefly, I have chosen to leave this chapter up. His restoration to life was unexpected, I'll admit, but does not change my opinions on Kakashi as expressed here.

**Disclaimer: **Definitely do not own.

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When my time comes, forget the wrongs that I've done,  
help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.

_Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest"_

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**Eulogy for a Shinobi**

**Facets**

Many words or phrases can describe Hatake Kakashi, late of Kohonagakure. A few are as follows: Son of a hero, later village disgrace; genius; Copy Nin; Sensei; pervert; liar.

Labels only, they describe only separate facets of him and make him appear to be easy to understand. Combining them, however shows a man of a complex nature, one we may never fully understand, but at least get a glimpse of who he was.

Two deaths shaped him in separate ways. The first was his father's suicide. Hatake Sakumo failed to complete a mission as ordered. His fellow shinobi were in danger, and instead of completing the mission, he decided their lives were more important, thereby costing Konoha. The village and very shinobi whose lives he had saved shunned him. Even his own son despised him. He came to believe that the only way to regain his honor was to take his own life. He did so by driving a dagger into his stomach, as in the old ways. Kakashi decided from that day that when he became a shinobi, his only priority would be the mission, and his comrades were expendable if it meant a successful completion.

A second death a few years later showed him otherwise, that while following rules are important, comrades are as well. Some things are not always black or white. During a war with Iwagakure, he and his teammates, Uchiha Obito and Inuzuka Rin were sent on a mission to destroy a bridge Iwa used. Rin was captured, and Obito wished to rescue her, while Kakashi did not believe her loss would hinder them in any way. Kakashi said if they did not follow the rules, that would make them trash. Obito shot back it would make them worse than trash if they did not make the attempt to save their comrade, and went to save her himself. Kakashi followed and lost an eye protecting him from ambush by an Iwa shinobi. Obito, realizing what Kakashi did, vowed he would one day return the favor, and thus triggered his Sharingan.

When they found Rin, they succeeded in saving her, but a heavy price was exacted. An Iwa shinobi tried to kill them using the heavy rocks of the cave hey were near. Obito saw one coming for Kakashi and pushed him out of the way, leaving himself open to getting crushed. As he was dying, he asked for his remaining eye to be transplanted into Kakashi, to replace his missing eye. This helped him perfect the move that made him famous: the Chidori. In the end though, he learned the true meaning of comradeship, and would pass on his teammate's words regarding comrades to his students when he finally became a sensei himself. He also chose to honor his teammate through adopting some of his personality, such as being late or making excuses. Obito was never forgotten through the remainder of Kakashi's life.

As the years went on, he gained the nickname for which he became widely known: Copy Nin. He joined the ANBU, one of the elite protectors of the village. Many times he was assigned to be a sensei to potential shinobi, but they would fail his test each time: the test of teamwork along with completing the mission. One day, this changed.

Three genin, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura finally passed his test, and he did his best to teach them. He made mistakes along the way, one of them focusing a bit too much on Sasuke to the detriment of his other two students at the time of the Chuunin exams. He even taught Sasuke the Chidori, failing to realize that all Sasuke saw was a potential weapon for killing his brother Itachi, and little else. He also neglected to realize that the curse seal that was placed on Sasuke by Orochimaru was seen by Sasuke as a means to that end and Sasuke would eventually use both on one of his teammates as he left the village for the power to kill Itachi, a goal in the end he did not truly accomplish.

Yes, he made mistakes as all of us do, but in the end, he made attempts to rectify them. A few years after Sasuke left, he began training Naruto in serious earnest. He made this decision to do so after hearing the results of a mission in which Naruto had been part of concerning finding out information of the Akatsuki from a spy one of them had placed with Orochimaru. After learning the level and abilities that Sasuke had, he offered to train Naruto as he was the best candidate for the type of training he had in mind. In fact, he believed that Naruto, to a certain extent would become stronger than he. This training gave Naruto a new jutsu that had the ability to surpass the Rasengan, the Fuuton: Rasenshuriken. By the time Akatsuki attacked Konoha, whatever breach had formed with his students had healed and they saw him with respect.

In the end, perhaps the best word to describe Hatake Kakashi is "hero", for during the attack on Konohagakure by Pein of the Akatsuki, he died from extreme chakra depletion using Raikagebunshin combined with his Mangekyou Sharingan in order to ensure that Akimichi Choji could reach Tsunade and inform her of Pein's powers, and perhaps find a way to stop him once and for all. He died as he lived, protecting his village and his sensei's legacy. In the end, this is all that matters.

Sayonara, Hatake Kakashi. Rest well.

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_And don't resent me, and when you're feeling empty,  
keep me in your memory.  
Leave out all the rest. Leave out all the rest._

_Linkin Park, "Leave Out All the Rest"_


	2. Jiraiya Uphill Climb

**A/N:** As promised, here is the second chapter of Eulogy. I chose Jiraiya for this one. I know there are many out there about his death, but I wanted to see if I could measure up to those others. I hope you enjoy this.

**A/N2:** I have decided to do a third chapter, and have included a poll with choices for that character. I have a few ideas for all three, and would like input on who I should do next. Please take the time to check the poll, if you would.

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_Does the road wind uphill all the way?/**Yes, to the very end.**/Will the day's journey take the whole long day?/**From morn to night, my friend.** – "Uphill" by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)_

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**Uphill Climb**

We all have trials in life that have the potential to beat us down, and often do. Jiraiya was no exception.

From childhood on, it was a fact of life. When he first became a shinobi, as a genin, he was placed on a team with the class genius, Orochimaru, and Senju Tsunade, the Shodaime's granddaughter. They didn't often make things easy for him, Tsunade laughing when he failed something as simple as a bell test, causing him to be tied to a stump; Orochimaru's cold, superior smirk. Sarutobi Hiruzen, his sensei, was constantly comparing Orochimaru to him, telling him to pay more attention to him, and he would do better. Jiraiya hated these comparisons, but he kept striving to become a better shinobi, with his path leading him ultimately to Mount Myouboku, home of the toads.

Mount Myouboku shaped his future. There not only did his skills grow, but he was given a prophecy: that not only would he become a pervert, he would travel as well, and a future student of his would have the power to either save the world or destroy it. Jiraiya would control the outcome. When he left, Jiraiya not only was a stronger shinobi, he now had a serious destiny ahead of him.

Return to Konoha did not necessarily mean his life was peaceful, and some time after his return, the first shadows fell, although he did not see them as such at first. During war with Amegakure, he, Tsunade and Orochimaru fought the leader of the village. Although they lost, they were spared as long as they bore the name "Sannin". As they began the journey home, they met three young children, orphaned by the war. Jiraiya stayed to help these children, Konan, Yahiko and Nagato. Although they were not shinobi under his tutelage, he gave them the lessons he needed to become so. He learned of Nagato's Rinnegan, and gave him some lessons on it. And when he finally left to return to Konoha, he left them there to grow, believing all would be well with them. Unwittingly, he set the prophecy in motion. Unknowingly, he left behind the seeds of his destruction.

Difficulties piled on hard and fast after he returned to Konohagakure. Earlier he watched Tsunade falter first under the death of her brother shortly before the war with Ame, then break with the death of her lover, leaving Konoha. Two members of his genin team died during a skirmish. Jiraiya's third student, Namikaze Minato, Yondaime of Konohagakure, died sealing the Kyuubi into his newborn son, Uzumaki Naruto. Orochimaru committed horrific experiments on fellow citizens, including shinobi, and was deemed a traitor. Finally he failed to defeat Orochimaru and return him to Konoha to face trial for his crimes. Granted permission to leave the village and retire, he did just that.

Over the years, little by little, each step of the prophecy was fulfilled. He traveled, wrote his perverted books and created an extensive spy network, gaining information not only about Orochimaru, but Akatsuki, passing all of this back to Konoha. After his return, Uzumaki Naruto became his student. He not only passed on knowledge of such skills as the Rasengan and Kuchiyose no Jutsu, he also kept the Kyuubi within Naruto at bay.

But for all that, all his accomplishments, the failure with Orochimaru had made him cynical, along with all the other grief he had dealt with as well, including the death of his sensei, now the Sandaime Hokage, at Orochimaru's hand. Not only that, many saw him as a joke. At the end, though, Naruto did one favor for Jiraiya, one he will never learn about, no matter the comfort it could bring him.

In his final battle against Pein, once his student Nagato, at one point he received a mortal wound. At this moment he recalled each failure of his life, leading him to this point. A memory of Minato reminded him of Naruto's continuously fighting against all odds and gave him the strength to fight once more. His last act before being knocked into a deep pool from Peins's final attack was to send the information on Pein's true identity to Konoha, and as he died, it was with the knowledge that Naruto was the child who would determine the world's fate. Jiraiya found his redemption, and died at peace.

Redemption often comes at a hard price, but for those like Jiraiya it is indeed worth it.

Sayonara, _Gama Sennin._

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_Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?/__**Of labour you shall find the sum.**__/Will there be beds for me and all who seek?/__**Yea, beds for all who come.**__ – "Uphill", final stanza_


	3. Namikaze Minato Sacrifice

**A/N: **Here is the third chapter of Eulogy. And this chapter is most likely the final one. Possibly I will continue it in the future, but for now it will stop here. This chapter concerns Yondaime Namikaze Minato, and is perhaps a fitting one to end with.

**Disclaimer:** Never owned, but it is a pleasure to write about.

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_"This brings tears to my eyes, my sacrifice."_ – Creed, "My Sacrifice"

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**Sacrifice**

Sacrifice.

Do we really know the true definition of this word?

Many definitions exist for sacrifice: Offering, what is offered, surrender, what is surrendered, getting rid of something, making such an offer. So many meanings surround just one word. But what exactly is its true significance?

Namikaze Minato likely understood the concept of sacrifice in a variety of ways. He lost his parents at a young age. An orphan with no family, he had to grow up quickly. For an orphan in any shinobi village, unless they had relatives, there was little opportunity in his village for any type of future and most kinless orphans were usually encouraged to enroll in the Shinobi Academy. Minato was enrolled, but as he loved the village, he did not find it a hardship, little knowing what lay ahead. At the age of ten, he graduated from the Shinobi Academy, becoming an adult in the eyes of the world, yet still in the physical body of a child. A few months later, he made his first kill. By the time he was twelve, both of his teammates were dead, killed in a skirmish with Iwa shinobi. For love of Konohagakure, he had given up his childhood and the innocence that went with it, becoming an adult far too soon.

To further aid his village, he sacrificed his time, working hard to increase his skills. His sensei, Jiraiya, was impressed by his stubbornness in doing so, and taught him to summon toads, along with everything he knew about _Fuuinjutsu_ techniques. Over the years, this knowledge, along with typical stubbornness and labor, he would assist him in creating two powerful jutsus: the Rasengan, and the Hiraishin. Both jutsus took months to create, and he needed to create a special kunai in order to activate the Hiraishin, a three-pronged one. This kunai was marked with a special seal to assist him in transporting from one spot to another quickly. This garnered him the nickname, "_Konoha no Kiroi Senko_", and the technique was of great assistance in defeating Iwagakure during the war between the shinobi villages.

He had to keep a façade over his true emotions, grieving for two members of his genin team in private when both fell in separate missions. As a leader of a shinobi team, it would do no good for the villagers or even other shinobi to see any signs of weakness. Public grief could harm the morale of the village in a time of war. For the good of the village, he concealed his grief and pain.

There was some joy for him near the end of his life. Not only was he named Yondaime Hokage, he met a young refugee kunoichi from Uzu no Kuni named Uzumaki Kushina. He lived with her for a brief time, and it actually seemed that at last he would have some semblance of a normal life. After years of giving up so much, he had achieved each of his lifelong dreams: he had become Hokage of the village he loved; he had found someone to love and who loved him; and finally, the dream of becoming a father. He had everything he had ever wished for, in spite of the price. But sometimes it seems that when we reach the culmination of our hopes and dreams, no matter the cost we paid earlier, when we reach that point, it means we have so much more to lose, and Namikaze Minato still had a price to pay for the sake of his village.

On the night of October 10th 16 years ago, just under a year after Minato was named Yondaime, Kyuubi attacked Konohagakure. Villagers and shinobi were being slaughtered indiscriminately by this force of nature. While most villagers escaped, many others were wiped out by the rampage of the beast, with homes and livelihoods utterly destroyed. That night, the final one of Minato's life, saw him faced with the decision of a lifetime. He faced the utter destruction of his village, and he realized that he needed to prevent it at all costs. While he had never seen the Kyuubi and only had heard of it in the legends told of Shodaime's battle with Uchiha Madara. As he grew older, he grew concerned that an enemy might one day summon a _bijuu_ to attack the village. He further became aware of such beings known as _jinchuuriki_. With these concerns, along with this knowledge, he created two powerful _Fuuinjutsu_: _Shiki Fuujin _and its counterpart, the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_. The _Shiki Fuujin_ would be used to seal the Kyuubi within a newborn child, in exchange for Minato's own soul, and the seal he painted on this child's stomach, the _Hakke no Fuuin Shiki_, would keep the Kyubbi trapped within the child, and its chakra would gradually be absorbed by the infant's own as he grew up. With this in mind, Minato took his newborn son and went out to face the Kyuubi. Kushina had died in childbirth, so he was spared the pain of informing her of his imminent death, and their son's fate. That night, Yondaime died for his village, giving his very life and future. He left behind three items: his son, a single hope, and a single regret.

We use the word "sacrifice" so carelessly sometimes, complaining about how we had to give up something we wanted or as a waste of valuable time. But for Namikaze Minato, the word was so much more. After losing his parents so young, he sacrificed his childhood, his innocence, his time, his emotions, his dreams, his future, his life. All for the sake of the village he loved, Konohagakure.

So tell me, do you know the true definition of sacrifice?

Namikaze Minato knows.

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**AN2: **Again, it has been a pleasure to write for, and I hope you all enjoyed Eulogy of a Shinobi.


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